Absolute Comics Group 2019
Created & Written & Lettered by Benny R. Powell
Created & Illustrated by Jamie Tyndall
Illustrated by Iwan Nazif
Coloured by Fahriza Kamaputra
Gabrielle Garcia was a typical American girl going to college to follow in her father's footsteps - or so she thought. One night, her father barged into her dorm room, suffering from a fatal gunshot, and injected her with... something. That was the moment she became the White Widow.
I was excited for this when I saw it in my pull. Honestly I had totally forgotten I had ordered it, I rarely get to order out of a Previews any more so it was that kind of wonderful surprise. I absolutely loved this first issue. I was impressed not only with the story itself buy how it was presented to the reader. We also have this great introduction to the character and there is so much more left unsaid which we’ll see as the series unfolds. There is origin, intrigue and all kinds of really good storytelling going on here.
The opening here is sensational, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It grabs the readers attention makes them sit up and wonder what the hell is going on here. Immediately I was drawn in and wondered what it was I was seeing and it definitely made me want to see more. The way it segues into the next chapter where we get to learn a little more about Gabrielle is spectacularly well done. Yes that full page pin-up is hella 90’s classic but you know what it makes an impressions. I will say that each transition that we see from Benny is incredibly well done and I am thoroughly impressed by what I am seeing.
I like that she’s a geek, nerd and whatnot and she has the body of an Olympic athlete, but then again she’s going to be in a costume soon enough so of course she does. That her folks are both have more PhDs than you can shake a stick at so naturally she inherited their brain power though she seems like to downplay that. So the introduction of her folks here and under the circumstances provided we start to get a clearer picture into how Gabrielle sees herself and life in general. The characterisation here is extremely well done the depth that Benny achieves here is great to see.
I do really like the interiors here and that it is shared with Jamie only doing a couple pages keeps the flow really simple. I will admit I wish Jamie had done more as I am pretty big fan of his but Iwan does some marvellous work here. The attention to detail and the way that we see the linework utilised to bring this to life is stupendous. I love how the varying weights are used and the design of the costume is done so that while in some ways it feels familiar it’s so unique to this character. Also I have to admire the colour work as well, the gradation, the utilisation of light sources so the highlights and shading we see are done it’s really eye catching. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a marvellous eye for storytelling. For the most part the way that backgrounds are utilised is nice to see, we really should see more though since they are here and how they work to expand the moments is well done.
A lot of times first issues are for the most part serviceable and that’s a shame because you really want to get under the readers skin so they have a desire or need to come back. This does that and it’s done in such strong and beautiful ways. The pacing, the story & plot development and the characterisation is strong and the interiors are rather beautiful. This makes me want to see more from not just this creative team (which is a given after reading this) but from Absolute Comics Group as well. If the rest are as high quality as this one look out folks.